Khizr Khan asks students to defend the Constitution

Thursday

Mar 30, 2017 at 4:48 PMMar 30, 2017 at 5:07 PM

Months after his impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention put his story under the national spotlight, Gold Star father Khizr Khan came to Boston to deliver a message to hundreds of New England students.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

BOSTON – Months after his impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention put his story under the national spotlight, Gold Star father Khizr Khan came to Boston to deliver a message to hundreds of New England students.

“Promise that from today onward you will always consider yourself a defender and custodian of the Constitution of the United States,” Khan told the students, who were gathered Thursday at the Boston Sheraton Hotel for the Anti-Defamation League’s annual youth congress.

A major theme of the youth congress, which drew students from 65 schools across New England, was exploring what it means to be an American. Khan, a Pakistani immigrant and U.S. citizen, is the father of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. The son was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

As he did at the Democratic National Convention, Khan repeatedly referenced the U.S. Constitution.

“Consider yourself a custodian of these values,” Khan told the students. “History has placed us in a place where it is our obligation to remain standing and defend these values. In every gesture and every moment, consider yourself a defender of these values that are enshrined in these documents.”

Leora Soibelman, a student at Bigelow Middle School in Newton, was randomly picked to join Khan on the stage at the youth congress to represent the hundreds of young people in the crowd.

“Everyone needs to remember, especially with so much hate going around, that we all have rights,” she said.

After challenging Presidential Donald Trump’s immigration platform in his DNC speech, Khan found himself locked in a political feud. Khan, a Muslim, has been critical of Trump’s policies and rhetoric on immigration, including an executive order aimed at restricting travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Khan previously claimed his travel privileges were being reviewed, but more recently clarified that he has chosen to not travel abroad to avoid hassles at the border, including potentially being asked to turn over his personal phone or laptop to border agents.

Braintree High School students Dat Duong and Tracy Nguyen said they felt a deep connection with youth congress speaker JJ Jeannot, a young woman who moved to the United States after the 2010 earthquake in her native Haiti.

Jeannot spoke of overcoming the challenges of immigrating as a child and being bullied in school because of her accent, style of dress and individual spirit.

“It felt really personal for me,” said Nguyen. “I didn’t speak English until I was in first grade.”

Duong and Nguyen were both born in Vietnam.

“She really inspired me,” said Duong said. “I felt a connection with her because I am also an immigrant.”

“She talked about how success is about doing what makes you happy, powerful and beautiful,” she said.

Brookline resident Isaac Zelermyer, a student at the Rashi School in Dedham, said it was powerful to hear Khan tell the story of his son’s sacrifice. All who serve their country deserve to be honored, he said.

Khan’s story inspired Reading Middle School student Caroline Johnson, especially an anecdote about a letter from fifth-graders that convinced him to accept the invitation to speak at the DNC.

“I was touched when he said we as young people are his heroes,” she said.

Her classmate, Kristin Murphy, agreed.

“Young people can make a difference,” she said.

Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League’s New England division, said young people, the nation’s future leaders, have a responsibility to bring the Constitution to life.

“Today is really an opportunity for students to be engaged in a discussion about what they bring to America’s social fabric and connect it to the Constitution, which supplies rights that apply to everyone in the country,” Trestan said.